📘 Part 3: Waiting

This episode's vocabulary

Strike up (phrasal verb) - to start a relationship or conversation with someone.

Sensation (noun) - a general feeling caused by something that happens to you.

Spark (verb) - to cause the start of something, especially an argument or fighting.

Flagrantly (adverb) - in a way that is shocking because of being so obvious or showing lack of respect.

Disregard (verb) - to ignore something.

Accustomed (adj.) - familiar with something.

Good-natured (adj.) - pleasant or friendly.

Agitated (adj.) - worried or angry.

Disruption (noun) - an interruption in the usual way that a system, process, or event works.

Consternation (noun) - a feeling of strong annoyance and anger, usually because of something bad that you cannot change or that is completely unexpected.

Peeved (adj.) - annoyed.

At the drop of a hat (idiom) -  freely; immediately.

Artificial intelligences (noun) - computer technology that allows something to be done in a way that is similar to the way a human would do it.

Reliability (noun) - the quality of being able to be trusted or believed because of working or behaving well.

Personalization (noun) - the process of making something suitable for the needs of a particular person.

Tailored (adj.) - specially made for a particular purpose or situation.

Cater to smb/sth (phrasal verb) - to satisfy a need or to provide what is wanted or needed by a particular person or group.

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Questions and Answers

Maria: Rory, what can people do when waiting in a line?

Rory: Well, whatever they can to stay calm and entertained. Usually lines are just boring and long so it's not usually harmful to just wait. It becomes more of a question of what you can do with that time that you have. You could borrow social media or someone said it was actually better to learn a language with an app like Duolingo or something productive like that, or people could listen to our podcast. You could also strike up a conversation with the person next to you and make a new friend.

Maria: How can we manage our time better?

Rory: Well, advanced planning would benefit most people, I suppose. If you can plan ahead, you can see where there are dead periods of time. They can be used well, and then you can fill them with productive things like writing scripts or replying to emails or planning. Like the things I mentioned previously.

Maria: What do you think of those people who jump the queue?

Rory: They should be shot on sight. Sorry, I cannot begin to describe the sensation of annoyance that kind of behavior sparks in people, myself included. Like when people show so much disrespect for others by flagrantly disregarding the rules like that. And somehow, at least in the experiences I've had with this, no one stops them but people should. It's really unfair. And it is not really, it's entirely unfair. And it isn't like the world is ending. So nine times out of ten, there's simply no need to jump the queue like that.

Maria: Are people in your country accustomed to waiting?

Rory: There is this stereotype of the British people being good-natured about waiting in queues, but it seems we're just as likely to be annoyed by them as everyone else. If you look closely at any long queue, you'll see foot tapping and watch checking just like anywhere else as people get progressively more agitated. Given how slowly some things like public transport and the post move, though, I suppose you could say that we accept waiting, but I wouldn't say that we're big fans of it.

Maria: Are adults better at waiting than children?

Rory: I think adults are better at handling the consequences of waiting, by and large, because there's always something to be done. Children have less to do, so all they can really do is complain, unfortunately for them. Well, they could learn how to use their imagination. We talked about that before. I think someone said something like boredom is a driver of imagination. So if you think about it that way, then it might be better.

Maria: Are people more patient than they used to be?

Rory: Well, if anything, they're less so. Um, we have everything on demand in terms of information and entertainment. Even a slight disruption to the information flow is met with consternation. A few weeks ago, Google died for like 50 minutes and it was major world news. Even I was a little bit peeved, to be honest.

Maria: Do you think the development of technology has reduced the time people spend waiting?

Rory: Well, absolutely. Everything is available drop of a hat. So it's massively cut times in half. Like even waiting in queues on phones, you know, it's handled by automated services. So the biggest issue is making sure that there's enough, I don't know, artificial intelligences or algorithms on hand to handle the inflow of calls.

Maria: How can companies improve their customer service?

Rory: Well, probably in two words like reliability and personalization. First of all, if we talk about reliability, you should do what you say you're going to do, since people are usually paying for this and it should be tailored to the specific individuals since people like to feel special and catered to. Usually calms them down. You can see they're just using someone's name changes elements of their outlook on things. They're not a number, but they're recognized as a person. There are other aspects to it, but those are the two main ones that I would highlight.

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